Road-grading machine.



No. 656,317. Patented Aug. 2|, I900. R. E.- BURKE.

Rm GRADING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 7, 1899.) (N 0 II o d a I 6 Sheets-SheetW|TNESSES: INVENTOR wm Eel/5M & 0% Qua/MW BY 5mm ATTORN EY.

No. 656,3l7. Patentea Aug. 2|, I900.

I R. E. BURKE.

ROAD GRADING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 7, 1899.)

(No Model.) 6 Sheeis-Sheet 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR 7P. BY

d ATTORNEY.

No. 656,3l7. Patented Aug. 2|, I900. R. E. BURKE.

ROAD GRADING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 7, 1399.)

04 ATTORNEY.

wums PETE'PS on, MuTo-umo, wasnwsro No. 656,30 Patented Aug. 2|, 1900;R. E. BURKE.

ROAD GRADING MACHINE. (Application filed Jim 7, 1899.)

6 Sheets8heet 4,

(No Model.)

INVENTOR Z. ATTORN EY.

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No. 656,30. Patented Aug. 2|, I900.

. B. E. BURKE. A

ROAD GRADING MACHINE.-

' (Application med June 7,1899.)

(No Model.) B Sheet sSheat 6 fi-TTEST IPU/EIJTUR- Bil/171a.

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NITED S ATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT E. BURKE, or ANDERSON, INDIANA.

ROAD-GRADING MAQHIN E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,317, dated August21, 190?).

Application filed June 7, 1899.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. BURKE,a oitizen of the United States, anda resident of Anderson, in the county of Madison and State ofIndiana,ha've invented certain newand useful Improvements in RoadGrading Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved road-scraper. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a section on the line to m, Fig. 1.Fig. 4: is a section on line y Fig. 1. a Fig. 5 is a partial rearendview. Fig. 6 isa per-' spective view of the scraper-blade and itscarrying devices. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the lockingdevice. Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the chain-winding drums. Fig.9 is a detail sectional view showing the drawbolt connection. Fig. 10 isa cross-section of the rear axle. Fig. 11 is a sectional view showingthe connection of the crank-arms 60 and rods 21. Fig. 12 shows the partsfor effecting such connection in detail.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements inroad-grading machines or scrapers. In machines of this character it isessential to provide means by which the scraper-blade may be readilysupported and manipulated for the purpose of raising or lowering it orto swing it laterally or diagonally to the longitudinal draft of themachine without the necessity for the operator leaving the platform,while at the same timeit must have suiiicient rigidity to meet andovercome the resistance of hard impacted earth interposed to its action.It is also desirable that the lateral play of the scraper blade or barshall be as great as possible, so that wider areas of surface may becovered and reduced to the desired grade or level. In machines of thisclass heretofore known and used these essentials have not beensatisfactorily obtained or provided for, owing in part to the principlesupon which they have been constructed and in part to the fact that theyhave Serial No. 719,637. (No model.)

employed a large number and complication of parts and mechanicaldetails.

The objects of the present invention are to I overcome the objectionsheretofore found to prior devices and to provide a machine in which isprovided the maximum amount of lateral play of the scraper bar or blade,in I which the manipulation of said bar or blade is secured with aminimum expenditure of power, and in which the cost of construction ismaterially reduced. Other minor objects will hereinafter appear. Theseobjects I attain by the means hereinafter described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and

pointed out in the appended claims.

In constructing the framework of my improved machines I employ oppositelongitudinally-disposed parallel side beams 1 and 2, preferably ofchannel-steel, whose front end portions rest upon and are secured to theends of a downwardly-arched bolster 3, an upwardly-arched bolster 3,having bearings upon the forward axle, being connected to saidfirst-named bolster by the king-bolt 10, washers 9 being placed betweensaid bolsters. At their rear ends said beams rest upon and are securedto the upper ends of vertical standards 4, forming part of a frame 5,which is slid ably mountedon the rear axle 6.

7 is an operators platform, which is secured at its rear end to theframe 5 and at its forward end is supported by arms or brackets 8, whichdepend from the under side of the said beams.

12 is a bail which is attached to and held in place bythe king-bolt.Said bail is formed with a half-loop 13 and bend 13 for the purpose ofpreventing vertical play of a draw-rod 14. The rod 14: has an eye 15 atits forward end which engages the said bail intermediate of said loopand bend.

16 designates two 'rearwardlydivergent longitudinally-extending barsarched near their forward ends, as indicated at 17, to provide acut-under for the forward tractionwheels A as they are turnedtransversely to the line of draft in making a sharp turn with themachine. Between the forward ends of said bars is a head-block 18,through which the draw-rod 14 loosely passes, its rear portion beingencircled by a stiff spiral spring 19, interposed between a nut or headon said rod and the head-block or other suitable abutment.

20 designates a pair of transverse bars, one above the other and boltedtogether at their end portions, their intermediate por tions being bentor spread vertically to receive between them the bars 16 at theintermediate portions of the latter. Loosely con nected to the endportions of the bars 20 are vertical supporting-rods 21.

22 and 23 designate two separated segmental or curved bearing-plates,which are socured to the under side of the bars 16 by means of clips 17.

24 is a fiat circle-plate which 1s placed between the plates 22 and 23,against which it bears at diametrically-opposite portions of itsperiphery, said plates 22 and 23 having the lips 22 23*, which engagethe underside of said plate and afford a bearing and support therefor.Said circle-plate also has lateral bearings and support in lugs 25 onthe transverse bars 20 26 is an internal toothed rack upon the innerperiphery of the circle-plate 24 and engaged by a pinion 27 on a shaft28, whose lower end portion is journaled in a bracket 29, secured to andextending transversely between the divergent bars 16. Said shaft isformed with a joint 30 a short distance above said bracket, and itextends obliquely upward and rearward to a point above the beams 1 and 2and over the operators platform, its upper end being provided with ahand-wheel 31. The upper portion of said rod also has a telescopicsection rigidly connected, however, with respect to rotary movement, itspurpose being to compensate for vertical adjustments of the scraper.

32 is a locking-bolt for the circle-plate 24.

This bolt is pivotally seated in a bearing in' a clip or bracket 33,secured to the segmental plate 3. Said bolt is provided with a leverarm34, which extends rearwardly toward the operators platform and withinreach of the operators foot. This lever is'provided with a rest 35,having an inclined notched bearingsurface 36. When the lever is moved tothe left, it rides up the inclined. surface 36 and drops into the notchthereof by the action of a spring 37, the bolt 32 being raised out ofengagement with one of a series of perforations 38 in the circle-plate24, with which it engages in notched position. It will be readily seenthat the operator'standing on the platform 7 is enabled through thewheel 31 and shaft 28 to exert a Very powerful and effective leverage onthe circle-plate to turn it to the right or left to the desired extent.Owing to the limited area of the bearings and supports 22, 23, and 25there is compara- -2-near the rear end of the machine.

tively little friction. The lock described provides means for securingsaid plate at any point in its revolution.

39 designates the scraper-blade, which is carried by the circle-plate 24through the curved arms 40, as shown, said arms at their upper endsbeing rigidly secured to the circleplate. 41 denotes braces for the arms40.

42 designates a transverse shaft which is journaled in bearings 43 onthe'beams 1 and On the central portion of said shaft is worm-wheel 43,which meshes with a boxed worm 44 on a short shaft 45 at right angles tothe shaft 42 and journaled in a bracket 46.

47 is a hand-wheel on the worm-shaft 45, said wheel being over theplatform 7.

On each end of the shaft 42 is a spirallygrooved drum 48, and to each ofthese drums is connected one end of a chain 49. The two chains passdownwardly from these drums at the respective sides of the machine toand under grooved pulleys 50,which are supported at the forward cornersof the platform 7 from the brackets 8. From these pulleys the chainspass inwardly and loosely cross each other, the chain from the drum onthe left-hand end of the shaft 42 being connected to the rear end ofright hand bar 16, while the chain from the right-hand end of said shaftis connected to the bar 16 at the left side of the machine. The spiralgrooves of the two drums 48 are counterparts, but run in oppositedirections, so that when the shaft 42 is actuated by turning thehand-wheel 47 the slack produced in the chain at that side toward whichthe scraper is moved will be taken up, while the opposite chain will bepaid out.

51 is a transverse shaft which is journaled at 52 in supports attachedto the beams 1 and 2 at the central portion of the machine.

52 are worm-wheels which are secured on the outer end portions of saidshaft 51 and are respectively engaged by worms 53 on longitudinally andlaterally disposed shafts 54, supported in bearings 55. On the rear endof each shaft 54 is a bevel toothed pinion 56, which meshes with a bevelgear-wheel 57, fast to the hub 58 of a hand-wheel 59. On each end of theshaft 51 is a forwardly-extending crank-arm- 60, bolted to thewormwheels 52, having at their end portions pivoted U shaped yokes 61,in which are pivoted at right angles to the pivots of the yokes 61 clips62, having studs 63, which enter perforations 63 in the upper portion ofthe vertical supporting-rods 21, before described. It will be seen fromthe foregoing that by rotating the hand-wheels 59 the shaft 51 will berotated, and thereby will raise or lower the scraper.

It will readily appear that the operator standing 011 the platform 7 hasfull control of the machine and is enabled to exert easily a powerfulleverage either to adjust the scraper-blade vertically or laterally withrespect to the line of draft of the machine and in a manner to overcomeany endwise resistance. The ,machine can therefore be adjusted so as tomake a cut of earth far outside of the line of draft, and byareversemovement of the hand-Wheel 31 the scraper may be almost instantly turnedor swung to the opposite side of the machine. If the blade in itsforward progress encounters an obstacle, such as a stone or stump, itmay be freed by reversing the circle-plate 24 or it may be liftedentirely over the obstacle by the manipulation of the hand-wheels 59.The manner in which the circle-plate is supported allows dust and dirtto free itself from the points of bearing, and thereby overcomes anobjection heretofore troublesome. Said circle is also by the devicesdescribed held in such a manner as to prevent it from spring.

The axle 5 is preferably made in two overlapping extensible U-shapedsections of steel channel-bars placed inside each other with thetransverse arms of the U upon the outside, with a partition between saidbars or a strip of iron on center of upper and lower half to separatethem, if necessary, and the axle-journals are bolted to the end portionsthereof, as seen at in Fig. 3. Said sections are provided with rack-bars71, secured to the channels thereof, engaged by pinions 72 on handshafts 73, operated by handwheels 74 and journaled in the frame 5. Byoperating these shafts either section may be moved laterally upon theother. The frame 5 is constructed, as shown in Fig. 3, with a baseportion 5, composed of upper and lower U-shaped bars secured by acentral plate, through which the axle-sections may slide.

It will be noted that the transverse shaft 42 controlling the lateraladjustment of the scraper-blade and the pulleys 48 thereof are placedabove the idlers at the forward part of the platform, whereby the chain49 between said idlers is always vertical, avoiding danger of such chainbecoming disengaged from the idlers through its gravity. It will also benoted that through such construction I am enabled to place theworm-wheel through which said shaft is actuated centrally thereof, andto provide the worm actuating the worm-wheel with a shortoperating-shaft, and yet have the hand-wheel thereof convenient to theoperator, these features being manifestly of great importance in amachine of this character subject to great strains.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a machine of the class described,the vertically-adjustable support, the scraperblade secured to saidsupport, and means for vertically adjusting said support and bladeconsisting of gear; mechanism having forwardly-extending rods carryingworms, a transverse shaft having worm-wheels at 0pposite end portionsthereof, gearing with said worms, crank-arms at the extremities of saidshaft, joint members pivoted to said arms, joint members pivoted to saidfirst-named joint members, and having each a projection, andupwardly-extending rods pivoted to said support and having each aplurality of perforations adapted to adj ustably engagesaid projection,substantially as specified.

2. In a machine of the class described, the vertically-adjustablesupport, the scraper blade secured to said support, and means forvertically adjusting said support and blade, consisting of gearmechanism, having a transverse shaft, the gear-whcels at opposite endsof said shaft, the crank-arms of said shaft, bolted to said wheels, theU-shaped joint members pivoted to said arms, the joint members pivotedto said first-named members, and having projections, theupwardly-extending rods pivoted to said support, and

having perforations therein adapted to adjustably engage saidprojections, substantially as specified.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with the supportpivoted at its forward end to the machine, and carrying thescraper-blade, of means for laterally adjusting said support and blade,comprising the transverse shaft, a gear-wheel mounted centrally thereon,a second gear-wheel meshing with said first-named wheel and having ashort shaft, a hand-wheel upon said shaft, pulleys at the ends of saidtransverse shaft, idlers below said pulleys, and chains or the likeconnected to said pulleys at one end and passing vertically downwardaround said idlers and connected to opposite sides of the rear end ofsaid support at their opposite ends, substantially as specified.

4. In a machine of the class described, the rear axle, formed of theextensible interfitting U-shaped channel-bars, substantially asspecified.

5. In a machine of the class described, the rear axle, formed of theextensible interfitting U -shaped channel-bars the toothed rackbars inthe channels thereof, and the handwheel shafts having pinions whichengage the teeth of said bars, substantially as specifled.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ROBERT E. BURKE.

Vitnesses:

LAURA A. BURKE, JOSEPH BURKE.

IEO

